Delhi: Nurse gang-raped in Oberoi Hotel, 2 arrested

Two men allegedly gang-raped a 28-year-old nurse in south Delhi’s Oberoi hotel on Friday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his Independence Day address that the nation had been shamed by a spate of recent rapes.

The nurse – employed with a prominent private hospital in Delhi – had been coming to the luxury hotel for the past two months to take care of the hotel owner’s 80-year-old wife, police said on Monday. Both the accused -- identified as Neeraj (25) and Rajan (20) -- have been arrested.

"On Friday, the victim was on duty at the suite where the owner’s wife has been staying for four years. The accused forcibly took her to their room and gangraped her," a senior officer said.

The five-star hotel contracted the hospital four years ago for providing medical attention to the owner’s wife, an officer said. One of the accused was the ailing woman’s personal cook, police sources added.

"The incident is very unfortunate. The individuals in question are not hotel employees. We are fully cooperating with the police and local authorities with the investigation," said a press statement from the hotel management, rejecting the police’s claim that the accused were hotel employees.

In her complaint, the nurse – who hails from Tibet -- said the two accused had sexually assaulted her once before Friday’s rape but she had kept silent since the accused had threatened to kill her. However, after a failed sexual assault bid by the same men on Sunday night, she broke down in front of her husband, who called the police.

Following the complaint, senior Delhi Police officers approached the couple and brought them to the Hazrat Nizamuddin police station where a case was registered.

On Independence Day, PM Modi had spoken out against increasing rapes, saying the Indian society must raise sons in the best possible manner to curb violence against women. "After all, a person who is raping is somebody's son. As parents, we need to take responsibility to bring our sons who have deviated from the right path to bring them back," Modi had said.